Sky-Girl Found
by ThaliaGrace318
Summary: Set after 1x05 Twilight's Last Gleaming. What happened in the grounder's cave while Octavia was unconscious? Why did the grounders attack her people? (This is a short companion to my story 'Save Yourself Octavia')


Lincoln crouched close to where the girl was lying unconscious on the ground. She'd fallen from the ravine and hit her head on the way down – he could see the cut on her forehead that was still bleeding. She was lucky that she hadn't broken her neck. He wondered what she was doing out here on her own, and why others had not come in search of her yet. The last light of the day was already gone. There had been a lot of unusual activity today in the Sky People's camp. He looked up to the sky to see the result of it now, the red lights streaking across the sky. Flares, he'd heard the Sky People call them. From what he'd been able to overhear while keeping watch on them, they were trying to send a signal to their people. He wondered if that meant that more Sky People would be coming down soon.

A soft groan pulled his attention back to the girl. She was stirring and hadn't noticed him yet. She tentatively touched her finger tips to the cut on her head and winced. The girl appeared slightly dazed as she looked around. He knew exactly when she saw him; she gasped and her eyes fill with fear as he stood up, towering over her. She stared at him for a moment unable to catch her breath before passing out again, no doubt from the combination of fear and the recent blow to her head. He approached carefully and knelt down next to her. She didn't respond when he put two fingers to her neck. Her pulse was steady; whatever trauma she'd suffered had not been too severe. He looked her over for any other injuries but aside from a gash in her knee that would need treatment, she was unharmed. Determining that it was safe to move her he gently lifted her into his arms and started walking.

XX

He set the sword aside to allow the blade to cool and looked down at the girl's sleeping form. She'd passed out from the pain when he was treating her wound, but it was for her own good. It was probably a mistake to bring her here to his home, but she wouldn't have made it back to her camp with that injury. And if he had left her where she was she might have become some animal's meal before her people found her – injured and bleeding, she would have been as good as dead – that's if his people didn't find her first. These Sky People were invaders in the tribe's territory. By rights, he should have brought her into the prison camp to be questioned...but he hadn't.

When he'd found her unconscious at the bottom of the ravine she'd looked small and helpless, as she did now. He reached down and gently brushed the hair back from her face. Now relaxed in sleep, she looked peaceful, no longer showing fear or pain. She had been the first of her people to step out of their ship when it landed and he remembered her face then, smiling and joyful, full of life.

He pulled back from her as he heard someone approaching outside, but relaxed when little sister called his name before coming in. His sister wasn't wearing her mask, and she must have run very quickly from the village as she was breathing hard. When she came into the cave she stopped and stared at the unconscious figure on the floor before looking at him. Then she spoke to him in the language of the tribe.

"What is that sky-girl doing here?!"

He pulled down his own mask. "She is not your concern, Teresa," he said pulling her to the side.

"What the Sky People do is everyone's concern, brother!" said Teresa, "Especially now."

He realized that something must have happened to bring her out here looking for him at this time. "What happened?"

"A runner came from Lake Side, saying that a fire was burning their village, too big to stop," said Teresa angrily. "He said it was started by the Sky People's missiles!"

Everyone had seen the missiles launched from the Sky People's camp blaze a red trail across the sky just after sun down. Now it appeared that they had come down on Lake Side, the farming village across the lake. His people will see this as an attack, an act of war. Word would be sent to the Commander and there would be retaliation – blood must answer blood.

"We need to get back," said Teresa.

He knew why Teresa had come here for him. Their leader would want to know if he had learned anything more of the invaders since he last reported back, and a decision would be made on how to respond to this attack. He looked to the girl asleep on the floor. She would be out for a while, and he could lock the grate over the entrance. It had not been his intention to make her a prisoner but few people, other than his sister, knew where he made his home away from the village. She would be safe here, for now; they wouldn't find her here.

"Let's go," he said.

"What about _her_?" Teresa shot a disgruntled look at the sky-girl.

"Like I said," her brother responded, "she is not your concern."


End file.
